Climate Policy Proposals to Obama

By Ben Trott

James Hansen, head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies and Adjunct Professor at New York's Columbia University, has written to Obama (in fact, the Obamas) criticising current climate change policy and making a number of proposals. The lengthy letter, which is available in full - with a preface - here, proposes:

• A moratorium on and phase-out of coal plants unable to capture and store carbon dioxide.
• Increasing the cost of carbon emissions through a carbon tax. The tax suggested is described by Hansen as 'progressive', with those reducing their carbon footprint more than average making money - and those with bigger cars and houses paying higher taxes.
• And finally, research and development investment in 4th generation nuclear power stations said to partly run on nuclear waste, as well as producing less waste with a lower half-life.